THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD
(apologies to Keith Olbermann)
Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Brian Kilmeade
On Monday, Fox News host Elisabeth Hasselbeck argued that “relief was felt in Boston” when word came that Tsarnaev would be executed…. “We’ve got friends and family there ourselves and, I think, most Americans looked at this as justice is done,” she opined. “But now we hear about this appeals process, and we’re wondering, where’s the justice in that?”…. Death penalty proponent Robert Blecker explained to Hasselbeck that appeals were guaranteed to condemned inmates, and he argued that they should be…. “People say it’s good that you gave him the death penalty, but he’s never going to get it,” co-host Brian Kilmeade remarked. “Timothy McVeigh gave up on his appeal so we got to kill him. We’re not going to get to kill this guy, are we?”…. “Lawyers, astute like you, will find a way to keep that appeals process going and keep him alive,” Kilmeade lamented.
No reasonable person would argue the assertion that carrying out a death sentence can take an exceedingly long time. Given the appeals process that in some states can drag on for decades, it’s a minor miracle (if you support the death penalty) when a prisoner is actually executed for their particular crime. Especially for those who believe that final justice should be swift above all- not fair, or accurate, or even correct. Fast.
After all, if they’re not guilty, why were they sentenced to death…and once they’re sentenced, why are millions of tax dollars spent on appeals? Shouldn’t they be considered bereft of all rights once judgment is passed? Society has spoken; it’s time for the debt to be paid; anything else is just delayed the swift and sure application of justice…amiright??
Whether through authoritarian bloodlust or the conviction that there’s no possibility a convicted criminal could possibly be innocent, Hasselbeck and Kilmeade care only for the end result- the execution of a criminal. That the system is fatally flawed and up to 4% of those put to death may well be innocent matters not; the only issue worth discussing is the swift application of justice in order that those aggrieved may obtain closure. No, for Hasselback and Kilmeade- no one’s intellectual or moral luminaries- it’s about results, not accuracy- the accused was found guilty; let’s save everyone a lot of money and march them to the death chamber posthaste.
Their lamenting the legally mandated appeals process before Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev can be executed is as pathetic as it is disingenuous. Neither of them are stupid; I have to believe they understand why the process is what it is- but their job is to pander to the lowest common denominator, and so they become the people they wish to propagandize. As facile as they are loathe to have an in-depth nonpartisan discussion on a controversial issue- any issue- both Hasselbeck and Kilmeade are so thoroughly convinced of their own correctness and brilliance that they can’t see just how astonishingly brain-dead their argument is.
Sure, in a perfect world justice would be certain, swift, and unflinchingly accurate. In the decidedly IMPERFECT world we live in, though, the death penalty is fraught with error. When one of 25 executed convicts may well be innocent, you’d think that that even mental and moral midgets like Hasselbeck and Kilmeade could be bothered to recognize that haste is a recipe for executing the innocent. And there’s no way to un-kill someone who’s subsequently determined to almost certainly be innocent…and isn’t that the very definition of “reasonable doubt.?” If you think this isn’t a problem, I have but one name out of many for you to consider: Cameron Willingham. Almost certainly innocent of the crimes he was executed for, Willingham has become the face of the campaign to end the death penalty.
Would that Hasselbeck and Kilmeade were as committed to the truth as they are to fear mongering and spreading Right-wing talking points.
